Tammie Rachell Largent-Phillips, 52, has Type 2 diabetes. For the past two years, she’s managed the condition using a drug called Ozempic, which helps individuals with diabetes keep blood sugar levels in check.
But in November, she was forced to modify to a different medication, insulin. The Ozempic she needed was now not available at her pharmacy.
In recent months, demand for the drug has soared, colliding with global supply issues. Together, it’s led to a shortage of Ozempic.
But the recognition of Ozempic, or semaglutide, is not due to rising rates of diabetes. As a substitute, it’s due to its weight reduction advantages, doctors say. At a better dose, semaglutide is used for weight reduction. Ozempic manufacturer Novo Nordisk sells that higher dose under a special brand name: Wegovy.
Shortages of Wegovy, also highly popular, were widespread last yr. Consequently, some individuals who had been taking Wegovy were as a substitute prescribed Ozempic off-label for weight reduction. That is causing problems for people like Largent-Phillips, who need the drug to administer their chronic illness.
“It has been very frustrating,” Largent-Phillips, of Florida, said of the shortage, adding that her blood sugar levels have been fluctuating as she’s had to vary medications.
In individuals with Type 2 diabetes, the body doesn’t use insulin properly. Insulin is a hormone that tells cells within the body to soak up glucose, or sugar, from the blood. If the body doesn’t use it well, that sugar stays within the blood, leading to high blood sugar levels.
Ozempic works by mimicking a hormone within the body that regulates insulin levels. It is a style of drug called a GLP-1 agonist. The medication is self-administered weekly as an injection.
Without medication, individuals with Type 2 diabetes risk blood sugar spikes that may potentially result in serious health problems, including heart disease, kidney disease, hearing loss and stroke.
“Even within the short run, people can feel poorly from high blood glucose levels,” said Dr. Robert Gabbay, chief scientist for the American Diabetes Association.
The availability shortages of Ozempic have meant that some patients have needed to go to several pharmacies before they may find the medication, said Dr. Marcio Griebeler, an endocrinologist on the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. In other cases, he said, patients have been forced to take a lower dose since it’s all that was available.
That is not “ideal,” Griebeler said, because patients may not respond the identical way as they did on the upper dose.
For many who cannot find the drug in any respect, the one option is to modify to a different medication, which will not be as effective, said Dr. Susan Spratt, an endocrinologist and senior medical director for the Population Health Management Office at Duke Health in North Carolina.
That is what Shane Anthony, 57, of Seattle, has needed to do. He has Type 2 diabetes and hasn’t been capable of get Ozempic since October.
Anthony was prescribed a special medication, but he said it isn’t as effective. His wife, Gerilynn, who’s a nurse, said his blood sugar levels have gone back up since being off Ozempic.
“It really makes me mad; it infuriates me,” Anthony said. “We’d like it to remain alive and keep performing on an on a regular basis basis.”
Switching to a different drug also complicates matters when Ozempic becomes available again.
Going back on Ozempic is not at all times a straightforward adjustment, Spratt said; because it could actually include unwanted side effects, akin to nausea or vomiting, patients are sometimes first prescribed a lower dose that’s progressively increased over several weeks.
“With a purpose to get back on the drug, you’ve got to begin all once more,” she said, “and that is really burdensome.”
Dr. Disha Narang, an endocrinologist at Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital in Illinois, said she sees patients “daily” who were taking Ozempic after which later came upon their pharmacy now not carried the medication.
Some patients have found luck finding samples in doctors’ offices, she said.
But others stopped taking medication altogether, she said, leading their blood sugar levels to rise.
The shortage has been tough on each patients and physicians, she added.
“We do not necessarily have control over the provision chain,” she said, adding that physicians act as a kind of middleman between patients and the medications they need.
Novo Nordisk, the corporate that makes each Ozempic and Wegovy, told NBC News that the supply of Ozempic has improved, but supply issues still remain.
Allison Schneider, a spokesperson for the corporate, said in a press release that Ozempic is currently available in certain dosages for Type 2 diabetes, nevertheless, the corporate remains to be experiencing supply issues that may last through the month and patients in some regions of the U.S. will experience delays in getting their medication.
“Anyone concerned with continuity of treatment, should contact their healthcare provider,” she said.
Largent-Phillips, of Florida — who has been documenting her experience on TikTok — said that for now, she needs to be vigilant about monitoring her blood sugar levels.
She said she doesn’t blame the people who find themselves using it for weight reduction for the shortage, however the manufacturer and provide chain.
She noted that there are a whole lot of people besides her who need this medication to administer their illnesses.
“That is awful,” she said.
